The best and worst of Victorian bikie gang tattoos revealed
Melbourne bikies are adorned with countless tattoos pledging club allegiance or taunting police. These are the good, bad and ugly.
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They’re the big players of the bikie world, and they’ve all spent countless hours in tattoo parlours.
Many of the designs they’ve had inked into their skin are the kind of thing you’d expect from outlaws, but others are more questionable.
Mick Murray’s Japanese
Mick Murray, recently arrested for murder, has for years been one of Australia’s most powerful bikies.
Murray, who remains national president of the Comanchero bikie gang, previously owned a tattoo parlour, Nitro Ink, in Hampton Park, and he’s covered from the neck down in dozens of classic bikie gang tattoos.
The most prominent is the word “ruthless”, in cursive across his neck.
Just below it, he has an old-school bikie “1 per cent” badge, which became popular among outlaw bikie gang members after the American Motorcycle Association, on a publicity drive, declared that 99 per cent of motorcycle owners were law abiding.
On his left knuckles, Murray has another common Comanchero tattoo, the letters ACCA, short for the gang’s motto: “Always Comanchero, Comanchero Always”.
But at some point, Murray branched out and had Japanese words for “love” and “pain” tattooed on his right knuckles.
Unfortunately for Murray, the words appear to have been the result of a bad Google translation job — it means something more like “heart pain” — and the artist’s handwriting appears to be a bit wonky.
Toby Mitchell’s crazy life
The former Mongols boss and Bandidos enforcer is a regular visitor to City of Ink in South Melbourne, the tattoo parlour run by his good mate, former AFL player Jake King.
Each time Mitchell has left a bikie gang, he’s had his tattoos lasered off at a nearby beauty salon.
The first time he went under the laser, when he quit the Bandidos in 2017 he had a big “Bandidos” zapped off his belly, as well as a picture of the gang’s iconic “Fat Mexican” mascot.
Taking pride of place across Mitchell’s belly is the word “Karma” in large gothic script.
It barely conceals the massive surgical scar that runs down the middle of his torso.
The Chinese symbols on Mitchell’s arms and legs date from his kickboxing days, and have inspiring messages like “desire”, “persistence”, “respect” and “sacrifice”.
Mitchell, who in recent years has become something of a fashionista, also has a fair share of late 90s and early 2000s tribal designs.
Anyone who dares to get up close and personal with Mitchell will see the number 1 on his neck, short for “1 per center”.
Some of Mitchell’s more recent additions are the words “Bad Company” around his right ear, and the Spanish phrase “La Vida Loca” – the crazy life – on his neck.
Brent Reker: Death or glory
Late Finks enforcer Brent Reker had barely an inch of bare skin on his body.
While face tattoos might be career killers for some, they helped Reker cultivate his feared image, and he collected more and more ink as he rose through the ranks.
Among hundreds of tattoos, Reker had the words “ruthless”, “unstoppable”, and “check mate” on his face.
Down the middle of his nose, he had F66F, short for “Finks Forever, Forever Finks”.
Next to his mouth, he had the number 13, and on his left earlobe, a pistol.
On his right collarbone, he had a tattoo of the phrase “death or glory”.
Reker died in prison, aged 35, in 2019
Allan Meehan’s hipster spider web
Allan Meehan, the third most senior Comanchero in the country, is dividing his time between Sydney and Melbourne, with the gang desperately short on senior leaders after a spate or arrests and a shooting.
Meehan is a lifelong bikie and has the tattoos to match.
Most prominently, he has a giant number 13 on the front of his neck.
It doesn’t seem to have resulted in much bad luck so far, and he has largely dodged the violence and arrests which have left his gang decimated.
Across his knuckles, Meehan has the words “live fast”.
On his left hand, he has the phrase “days of glory”.
The former Rebel also has an old-school spider web tattoo on his forehead, a design which traditionally symbolises spending time in prison, which is these days is more common among Brunswick hipsters than outlaws.
Andy Summerfield the pussycat
The baby-faced former Mildura Rebel is little known in Melbourne, but was being groomed for a senior national role with the gang until he ended up in jail after ordering a brutal machete attack on a rival.
Time will tell whether he will fall back in with the gang when his parole is complete in 2024.
When he was sent from Mildura to run the gang’s Darwin chapter — with the promise of a further promotion if things went well — Summerfield set to work getting inked up.
Among his most prominent tattoos, the now law-abiding pussycat has the phrase “nine lives” emblazoned across his neck.
Scoring points for originality, Summerfield also has lyrics from the song “Dance with the Devil” on his arm.
His sidekick in the machete attack that saw them both jailed had a large chunk of his face covered with “Exodus 21:24”, a favourite bible passage among churchgoing bikies, which reads: “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot”.
Luke Moloney’s priorities on display
Hells Angels president Luke Moloney has a more sedate set of tattoos than some of his younger and flashier mates.
Among the most prominent of his tattoos are has his gang’s name tattooed down his right leg, and a naked woman on his left, leaving little doubt about his priorities in life.
Jesse Marrogi’s dream night at Crown
Jesse Marrogi, the baby brother of convicted killer and alleged jailhouse crime gang overlord George Marrogi, has a penchant for fast cars, expensive clothes and lots of tattoos.
Across his neck, he has the word “sinner” and, as if that didn’t get the message across, he also has the words “f**k the law” on his belly.
Across his back, he has the phrase “Crime pays”, with a dollar sign instead of an “s” and a shootout between him and police among a fleet of Rolls Royces in the carpark at Crown Casino.
He also has an Arabic “noon” symbol on his neck, in support of persecuted Assyrian Christians.
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